As the world remains mired in COVID-19 case counts and alarming updates, it’s hard to look past everyone’s grim newsfeeds. But opening our eyes wider to a bigger world that is, albeit slowly, starting to stand up should give us hope—or at least an easier day. ANCX will regularly gather positive developments in different corners of the globe to show that, in trying to move forward, we can confidently train our eyes upward.

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Rhino horn smuggling operations have slowed down 

“We have been able to arrest the escalation of rhino losses,” says South African minister of environment, forestry and fisheries Barbara Creecy. Because of lockdowns and restrictions due to the COVID pandemic, international smuggling rings have been disrupted, with only 166 rhinos being poached in the first six months of the year compared to the same period in 2019. Demand for rhino horns mostly come from China and Vietnam where it is used as a wonder drug against serious diseases as well as an aphrodisiac. The ministry however is bracing for incidences to increase as lockdown restrictions are slowly lifted.

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COVID positive lung transplant patient recovers

Mayra Ramirez, who received a double lung transplant in June to save her life from having contracted COVID, was finally able to come home last Wednesday. The 28-year-old American was being treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and did not wake up for six weeks after being hauled into the emergency room. There has been a growing number of patients who have had to undergo the operation, considered a desperate move for those whose lungs have been severely damaged by COVID. A lung transplant is both tricky and relatively rare (just under 3,000 performed in the US last year); It is only intended for those who are seriously ill, but must be strong to survive and recover. “It will be a challenge for physicians to determine which patients truly are candidates and what’s the timing,” says University of Florida Health Shands Hospital’s Dr. Tiago Machuca. “We don’t want to do it too early when the patient still can recover from COVID lung disease and resume with good quality of life, but also you don’t want to miss the boat and have a patient where it’s futile, the patient is too sick.”

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Serena Williams wants to give face masks to school-bound kids

Tennis star Serena Williams is teaming up with T-shirt company Bella+Canvas, the US National School Board Association, and Scholastic to provide 4.25 million face masks for American children who are headed back to school soon. The program will provide educational materials and information on masks to around 54 million in 115,000 schools. “I'm grateful to be able to help educate our schools about this resource, and to be given the opportunity to serve so many students,” the 23-time grand slam champion said in a post on her Instagram.

Click here for more

You may also like:

• Japan has reopened Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea after a four-month closure
• Thailand is preparing for a second wave by developing its own COVID test kits
• Once the COVID epicenter of the US, New York City reports first day without any Coronavirus death
• After successfully controlling COVID, Taiwan’s economy is projected to grow

England is using robots to help with disinfection efforts

Robots are being utilized in a city center in Leeds, Northern England to help identify and disinfect objects and surfaces from COVID. “The robots were able to identify the objects that they needed to clean, and they were able to maneuver in the public spaces,” says West Yorkshire assistant professor Dr. Bilal Kaddouh. “The robotic arms effectively delivered the disinfectant on to the target surfaces.” An adaptation of an existing machine, these AI navigational robots sprays a mist of diluted alcohol on identified areas.

Click here for more

Egypt posts lowest single day COVID tally since May

According to the Egyptian Health Ministry, the African nation had 321 new COVID cases last Friday, its lowest number in three months. The nation has 94,316 cases to date, with 4,834 deaths. While it has not been included in an “safe to travel” lists as of yet, it reopened resorts in July. Tourism and tourism-adjacent industries account for around 15 percent of the Egyptian economy.

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Infectious diseases and clinical pharmacology expert Dr. Benjamin Co has been thankfully breaking down coronavirus numbers in his personal blog since the outbreak started. The perspective he provides is informative, and comforting in those who are craving for a clear picture of how we are faring against the virus. Dr. Co will share daily updates and analysis of the Department of Health reported numbers with ANCX. 

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[Disclaimer: Whatever is written here is based on information released by the Department of Health (DoH) at the time of publication. Whatever changes DoH makes in their data later on…well that’s a different story in itself and as they say in their disclaimer: “the total cases reported may be subject to change as these numbers undergo constant cleaning and validation.”]

5,083 confirmed cases.

103,185 total cases.

We broke records today, and those numbers are staggeringly high—so high that we now remain among the top 10 countries that contribute to the most number of cases of coronavirus in the world. 

Of the more than 5,000 cases, 2,737 or 54.4 percent belong to NCR alone. Three provinces in Region IVA continue to haul in record numbers: Cavite with 463, Laguna with 326, and Rizal with 201 cases. Cebu reported 449 cases overnight, but I think this may be late reported cases due to validation and verification from the central office rather than actual daily cases reported from the testing facilities. Of the 94 laboratories, less than three fourths provided a report. 

Seventy-nine were removed from the total cases with no reason provided.

The number of active cases is now up at 35,569 from a previous of around 30,928 because of only 301 recoveries (from the over dramatic 38,000 recoveries the previous days) compared to the overwhelming number of confirmed cases. This brings the touted 73 percent recovery rate three days ago crashing to 63.5 percent. Eight of the recoveries were removed because they were duplicates. 

There were 20 reported deaths, bringing the fatality rate to two percent. 

Of the 20 deaths today, 15 were from Region VII, four from NCR, and one from Calabarzon.

Of these 20 deaths, 17 occurred in July, three last June, and three last May. 

Eight recoveries were removed from the total recovery count.

Data for July 31, 2020 (reported on August 1) show there are 95 accredited testing sites (72 RT-PCR and 23 GeneXpert laboratories) in the country. As to how many are functional, is a totally different question altogether as the number of testing facilities submitting reports on time is a work in progress. 

The Philippines has tested approximately 1.33 percent of the total population as it registers 1,453,038 individuals tested.

We will break down the more than 5,000 cases tomorrow. And it will be interesting to see what the Data Drop will reveal as there was so much confusion in the data drop yesterday. [Seriously, if you go through the data yesterday, it was like these encoders were so tired that they just filled in the blanks and left you to go figure. With this number of new confirmed cases, will those unknowns will remain the bothersome bunch? With this number of individuals tested, how will the daily positivity rate be affected?]

The data yesterday

Let’s start off dissecting the rising cases for the past days. As previously noted, the Health Agency adjusts the reports on cases twice a day (although inconsistently).

The initial July 30 report showed 4,114 positives from 29,620 individuals tested or a daily positivity rate of 13.1 percent. The second report 12 hours later (adjusted data) showed 4,389 positives from 31,084 individuals tested for a daily positive rate higher at 14.1 percent. 

July 31 initial report showed 3,641 positives from 26,149 individuals tested and reported by 71 of 89 laboratories, bringing the daily positive rate to 13.9 percent. 

The cumulative positivity rate of the Philippines is up at 9.5 percent and climbing.

The three epicenters of the Philippines owned 3,352 of the 3,641 total positive cases in the July 31 report. That’s 92 percent of the total. NCR alone? 83 percent of the haul! 

So we had the most number of cases reported in a single day yesterday: 4,963. Of these, 146 (2.94 percent) had no known region–the story of the data of the Health Agency. [In order not to embarrass the agency, I will not post the haphazardly assembled data drop. Because while we’re at the pinnacle of the problem of how to control the pandemic, I cannot overemphasize the point, it all begins with accurate and understandable data.] 

To date, the top five regions in terms of total number of cases are NCR (53,135), Region VII (15,782), Region IVA (9,756), Region III (2,393), and Region VI (1,383). 

The top five regions in terms of cases reported yesterday were NCR (2,661), Region IVA (1,095), Region VII (369), Region III (189), and Region VI, and V (60 each). NCR alone had almost 54 percent of all the cases. 

There were 91 cases from repatriates reported and all regions had at least one case.

The unknowns

Of the 400 cases (8.1 percent) classified as unknown (no tagged location or unidentified), 146 had no known region, 18 had no known provinces (all from Calabarzon), while the remaining 236 were simply a mess. In NCR alone, 209 had no city while there were nine individuals with different descriptive jargons that meant the same thing, unidentified. 

This type of reporting is consistent in the areas with high volume of cases. This should not be the case because it is the same area where the Health Agency should focus on data accuracy.

The known

NCR is a mess. The number of cases has disproportionately multiplied four to five times in various cities. The following cities saw triple digits yesterday: Quezon City (638), Manila (320), Taguig (216), Caloocan (150), Makati (147), Pasig (143), Parañaque (143), Pasay (136), Muntinlupa (120), and Mandaluyong (119). 

Cities with double digits but more than 50 were Las Piñas (71), Navotas (55), and Marikina (51). 

Other cities with double digit cases but less than 50 were Valenzuela (48), Malabon (46), and San Juan (45).

Pateros had only four cases.

Two hundred eighteen (8.2 percent) of the reported cases in NCR yesterday had no tagged locations.

Among the other top regions outside of NCR, the following provinces in those regions had the highest cases: Cebu with 355 in Region VII, Cavite with 405 in Region IV-A, Bulacan with 96 in Region III, and Negros Occidental with 24 in Region VI.

Calabarzon is the new epicenter outside of Region VII. With 1,095 cases in the region, 86 municipalities/cities reported cases. Santa Rosa led the pack with 108 cases. 

Double digits were seen in the following: General Trias, Dasmariñas, Cainta, Calamba, Antipolo, Cabuyao, Biñan, Imus, Trece Martires, Bacoor, Rodriguez, Taytay, Cavite City, San Pedro, San Mateo, Silang, Tanza, and Morong. 

The others reported single cases. There were 32 tagged as unknown city, eight tagged as address no provided, and one as “others – FULU” (whatever that meant).

Of the 369 cases from Central Visayas, 140 were from Cebu City. 

The following reported double digits: Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, Talisay, Consolacion, Daanbantayan, Compostela and Minglanilla. 

There were 29 municipalities/cities that reported single digit cases. 

Three cases were classified as unknown or address not provided.

Region III came in fourth with 189 cases in 54 municipalities/cities.

San Jose del Monte in Bulacan reported the most with 29 cases. Others with two digit cases were Cabanatuan (12), Balanga (12), and Hagonoy (11).

The rest of the cities/municipalities had single digit cases. 

The messed up data included reporting Bulacan as Bulacan with 13 cases and one case apiece classified as others as “ONDON, NO CITY IN CIF, and ADDRESS NOT FOUND.”

Region VI tied in fifth with Region V with 60 cases apiece. Bacolod leads the region with 11 cases followed by Iloilo with 10. There are 33 cities/municipalities with single digit cases.

Region III rounds up the top five regions with San Jose del Monte in Bulacan reporting 17 cases. The rest of the cities/municipalities reported single digits. 

There were 13 unidentified cases (no tagged locations).

As of yesterday, the seven-day average for cases and deaths in the Philippines are up at 2,831 cases/day and 21 deaths/day, respectively

The week in review

This week saw a steep uphill surge. We broke many daily records and the last three days saw us breaking the daily confirmed cases records to top a seven-day average of close to 3,000 cases/day. The last week alone saw us record four digits daily.

While the case fatality rate continues to decline, this may not be the true picture of deaths due to COVID-19 because outcomes are not seen this early on. It will take four to eight weeks (sometimes longer) before fatalities are reported. As we see a tumultuous rise in our cases this past weeks, expect the fatalities to come in four to eight weeks later. 

Our doubling time has shortened. The Rt is now 1.29 (higher than the previous week), with a daily growth rate of over 3 percent. The summary above provides a more or less somber situation of the pandemic in the country. As businesses begin to open in NCR and other contiguous cities in the area, the number of cases also pile up. The health care system is overwhelmed and there has been a call by healthcare workers for a “time-out” because the health personnel are taking the brunt of the casualties.

When medical front liners fall ill or get infected, hospitals become understaffed and the quality of care in a health facility significantly affects the outcomes of patients. Poor outcomes is an unacceptable barter for any economy. We all know how to restart economies that fail. But lives that are lost cannot be resurrected. 

The World

With 221,440 additional cases reported in the world yesterday, we have officially passed the 18 million mark. The seven-day average teeters around the 250,000 cases/day or one million cases every four days. At this rate, the world will see 20,000,000 cases between 7 to 10 days from today. 

There were 5,147 reported deaths globally bringing the seven-day average for deaths to 5,648/day. 

The global case fatality rate is lower at 3.82 percent and recoveries slightly lower at 62.87 percent. [Recovery rates are not very reliable indicators because they are subjective based on the country’s definition of how and when they consider patients “recovered.” Case in point is the Philippines with the sudden time-based endpoint change. Death rates on the other hand, while more definitive of outcomes take a longer time to report and validate.]

Data from WorldOMeters.info.

The United States has more than 4.75 million total cases with 58,429 new cases reported yesterday. For the third day in a row, they also reported the most deaths in the world with 1,123 dying due to COVID-19. 

The top three states with new cases yesterday were Florida (+9,642), California (+7,382), and Texas (+6,720). Among the 50 states in the US, California leads with more than half a million cases, followed by Florida and Texas, respectively. The highest total deaths is still owned by New York with 32,733 (CFR = 7.37 percent) followed by New Jersey with 15,907 (CFR = 8.47 percent).

Brazil remains in second with 2,708,876 total cases. The country reported 1,048 deaths yesterday. 

India had the second highest cases overnight bringing their total to 1,751,919.

Iran displaces the United Kingdom for the 10th spot.

Top 10 countries that had the highest new cases overnight were:

• USA – 58,429
• India – 54,865
• Brazil – 42,478
• Colombia – 10,763
• South Africa – 10,107
• Mexico – 8,458
• Peru – 7,448
• Russia – 5,462
• Argentina – 5,241
• Philippines – 4,963

With more than 5,000 cases today, the Philippines is on track to overtake Indonesia any time soon.

The government needs to regroup, strategize and create a blueprint of the best and worst case scenario for our exit plan from this pandemic, particularly NCR.

If we had one, we wouldn’t be having this discussion now.

As the country continues to reopen, people across the nation continue to express appreciation for the healthcare workers braving hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients. Similar to the firefighters and policemen who sacrifice their lives for our safety, frontline healthcare workers have become the symbolic heroes of the moment.

But for many of us, this time is also unprecedented in terms of the ways in which our lives are threatened. It’s not impossible that thousands of healthcare workers have tested positive for COVID-19.

Worse, hundreds have died.

Now add to that the indiscernible statistics of our nation’s COVID-19 cases. These numbers trigger inevitable fear and uncertainty, an uncertainty that is masked by the call to duty that summons providers to carry on despite the novel coronavirus and its risks. This fear (and frustration) sometimes leads doctors and nurses to keep their distance, inadvertently depriving patients of a comforting presence during this acutely vulnerable time.

Remember the healthcare field is filled with bright, compassionate souls. But this fact is sometimes taken for granted, especially in times like these, when the same souls find themselves on the “front lines” of a war that not everyone realized they had signed up for.

I feel strongly that it’s important to get our message out, to capture and communicate the risks we take. Sharing messages and stories not only tells others about the sacrifices necessary to become healthcare professionals but also shows the toll of practicing in it. Since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, I’ve found myself personally moved by images and stories shared behind the scenes. As I continue connecting with physicians from across the nation about issues we need to address (both pre- and post-COVID issues), I find myself emboldened to share our voice.

We fear that all our patients are at risk. They all have the underlying comorbidities that put them at risk. So it’s difficult to tell them we will operate to fix their heart, or do their kidney transplant knowing that admitting them to the hospital puts them at great risk.

Furthermore, a lot of us fear that in doing something we love, being a good doctor or a good nurse, may actually result in our own deaths. We feel like we are working in air that actually has weight and substance—like we have to tread water as we move to each room and each patient. Personally, I want to grow old with my wife. I want to go on vacations with my kids. Play golf… We all deserve that. Unfortunately, our current situation puts the possibility of doing all of those things into question.

Frustration is growing due to the fact that we continuously seem to be working in a reactive manner. Afraid that by the time that we learn our lesson, after too many fatalities, only then will we know that being proactive and protecting ourselves would have served us better. Almost five months into this pandemic and healthcare workers still bring their own personal protective equipment (PPE), some are asked to reuse masks, other places have no choice but to limit PPE to those infected or suspected to be infected, leaving healthcare providers to work in conditions that put all of them at risk.

But if our physicians, nurses, therapists and other healthcare workers become infected themselves then they will be unable to provide the care our patients require. Five months into this pandemic, and we continue to hear of stories about public negligence, politicking, people deliberately lying about their symptoms, new snake-oil therapies… Nothing has really changed. In fact in some ways, we seem worse off.

• OPINION: Our doctors have confirmed it. We are losing as one.
• NCR, Cebu, Laguna, Rizal, Cavite make up bulk of PH’s 4,063 new COVID cases
• NCR’s 2,667 new COVID cases bumps the region’s total past the 50,000 mark

During the time of this writing we saw close to 4,000 new cases of COVID-19. Now, more than ever, I am fearful for the future health of healthcare. The scars of today—the fear, the uncertainty, the separations from family, the amount of death to come—won’t be gone tomorrow. For those of us on the frontlines, our souls will always bear witness to all that was lost: our patients, our colleagues… And for more than a few of us, our faith in a system that was supposed to be ready to protect us.

This article was originally published online on Tribute.net.ph. Dr. Brian Cabral practices his specialty (nephrology, hypertension and renal transplantation) at St. Luke’s, Makati Medical Center and Asian Hospital. He is also a clinical associate professor at PGH. 

In September 2012, the restored version of the highly-acclaimed film Himala (1982) premiered at the 69th Venice International Film Festival in Italy. In December of that year, the Ishmael Bernal classic had its Philippine premiere, attended by some of the most respected people in the industry of cinema, including the film’s screenwriter, Ricky Lee.

The audience sang praises in unison. Those who have watched the film before were astonished at the film’s new-found clarity, which allowed them to see—in much detail—the film’s cinematic style, the cast, the production design, and even the eyes of the lead actress Nora Aunor. Aunor’s eyes, many believe, have always been her most powerful tool.

The younger members of the crowd, who were watching it for the first time, were introduced to this masterpiece—and they wanted more of its kind.

Behind this achievement are the people who work with the ABS-CBN Film Restoration department, headed by Leo Katigbak. And this endeavor was only their first step toward a bigger advocacy.

The history of film restoration

On the basement floors of the Eugenio Lopez Junior (ELJ) Communications Center, inside the ABS-CBN compound in Quezon City, are the offices of the ABS-CBN Film Archives and Film Restoration department.

Julie Galino, who used to work as a technical specialist for film restoration for LVN Pictures, Inc., manages the film archives section.

The office space on basement 1, is your regular office, except that there are no windows and a view of the bustling city. Instead, there are walls plastered with posters of local films, majority of which are the classic ones by Ishmael Bernal, Eddie Romero, Lino Brocka, Mike de Leon, to name a few. Where office cubicles usually fill up majority of the rooms, this special place instead holds equipment used for some parts of film restoration, and props from old movies and TV series. Somewhere in that collection, a dark-brown-colored, bald figure with huge eyes, that’s about three-feet tall, sticks out—it was used for the TV series Kokey (2007). Three life-sized dolls with long, dark hair, and sinister eyes—used in the 2014 horror film Maria Leonora Teresa by the late Wenn Deramas—stand beside each other. All of these random objects stay safe in a temperature-controlled, freezing space that’s huge enough to hold a vault and 13 employees (including Katigbak and Galino, although the former usually stays in his office in another building).

The history of Film Restoration dates back to 1994, when the Film Archives department was set up to house the film materials acquired by ABS-CBN for their cable channel, which is now called Cinema One. In 1993, Star Cinema, the film production arm of ABS-CBN, began its operations, and it needed a group to handle the archiving of their projects.

At the time, digital restoration was expensive. According to Katigbak, while analogue restoration was available, it couldn’t deal with the problems inherent in the prints stored in the Philippines. These problems occur because our weather does not lend itself to proper preservation.

“We tried to restore Peque Gallaga’s Oro, Plata, Mata [1982], but at the time, it would have cost us 25 million pesos,” Katigbak reveals. “And still, it would not have addressed the problems of the copies.”

By around 2008, Hollywood was already doing brand new scans in high-definition (HD) format; they were phasing out the Blue Ray format; and they were big on colorizing classic movies. “Around that year, a lot of work was being done to tweak the classic film materials,” Katigbak says. Their team then started to revisit the possibility of restoring the films, which they already have in their archives.

In 2010, Katigbak and his team presented their plans to restore films to the management of ABS-CBN, who were immediately “impressed with the advances in technology.” To prove their concept, the team tested their restoration process on Maalaala mo kaya…The Movie (1994), which had scratches, warpage, and discoloration, to name a few.

Katigbak recalls, “Gabby Lopez [the current chairman emeritus of ABS-CBN Corporation] already felt at the time that there will be a new technology coming soon for broadcast. He said we needed to prepare the materials of ABS-CBN, and to prepare the movies for that future technology.” The budget was promptly approved, even if it was a little hefty.

While Maalaala mo kaya…the Movie was already being restored, Katigbak felt the movie’s age wouldn’t be enough to push for their film restoration campaign. “Paano mo ipo-promote ang isang sine na hindi man lang 20 years old?” Katigbak says. “Why don’t we start with movies considered real classics?” In fact, they already owned the rights to some of the experiemental films—Himala, Oro Plata Mata, Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon? (1976)— which they bought from a public bidding.

Coincidentally, Himala was celebrating its 30th anniversary, so a book and a documentary about it were about to be released. The idea was to have the more recent films like Maalaala mo kaya…The Movie piggyback on the classic films.

Katigbak saw this as a great opportunity to start their campaign. They then came up with strategies to give the movie more value in the present time: they made new posters, put together a new teaser for the film, and created new marketing materials.

“There is no point in restoring something unless you let people watch it,” Katigbak says. “So, for example, when someone walks in front of the new poster, the person would actually stop and consider watching the movie.”

The restoration project was a success. ABS-CBN Film Restoration’s campaign, called Sagip Pelikula, was then born. And the rest, as they say, is history.

How to restore a film

It takes a minimum of two months to restore a single film, that’s why the process is costly.

Galino, who was with LVN Productions when it closed down in 2005, is in awe of the technological achievements in our country. She stayed with LVN until 2010, when the company’s shares were sold to a new management. She was later hired by ABS-CBN to work under Film Restoration, which was then part of the now-defunct Special Projects division.

Every day, she comes to the office happy because she believes this is her calling. The petite, cheerful Julie tells ANCX, “Parang hinihila ako papunta dito. Natuwa ako no’ng napunta ako dito kasi it’s only a continuation of what I used to do—from conventional to digital, nag-level up. Mas challenging, mas exciting.”

Despite the absence of sunlight inside the entire office, the atmosphere doesn’t feel heavy. The small team gets along well, and their job is their passion. One of the staff members, for instance, JR Macatangay has been working for the film industry for years. Before handling the film materials at ABS-CBN, he had worked for Sampaguita Pictures.

The tasks on their to-do list may vary from day to day. Galino’s team helps select the films needed to be prioritize in a given year—they can restore an average of 15 films a year, depending on the budget. After selecting the film, they need to acquire the film’s rights, if they don’t have it yet. Acquiring these rights may take months, or even years, because some remaining copies of Filipino films are stored outside of the Philippines (especially those that competed in international film festivals).

When everything is done, they begin the process of restoration.

The prints and negatives are stored in vaults, which must be checked every day. These vaults must maintain a certain temperature and humidity: 8 to 10 degrees Celsius for the long-term vault in basement 1, and 15 to 20 degrees Celsius for the medium-term vault, in basement 2. The copies must go through two acclimatization rooms (for day 1 and day 2) before they are taken out of the vault.

The copies go through a process called film inspection, which may take two to three days, depending on the kind of repairs the copies need. These copies are then scanned, transferred to a hard drive, and brought to a restoration facility. The oldest film they’ve restored so far is the Dolphy starrer, Omeng Satanasia (1977).

While all these undertakings are happening, Galino and her team simultaneously answer requests for airing of the films they’ve restored. Galino says they receive thousands of requests in a month. Their team also helps organize events that raise awareness of the need to protect classic films.

Click on the images for slideshow

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One of the rooms in the basement office of ABS-CBN Film Archives. 

A record book noting copies of the teleserye Kay Tagal Kang Hinintay.

The vaults are mostly made up of rows and rows of shelves containing copies of films owned by ABS-CBN. 

A vintage film projector kept in storage. 

The temperature in the vaults are monitored.  

The copies must go through two acclimatization rooms (for day 1 and day 2) before they are taken out of the vault.

Film reels of the romantic drama One More Chance. Right: a temperature monitor among the film reels. 

Eligio “JR” Macatangay used to work for Sampaguita Pictures. He now handles film materials at the ABS-CBN Film Restoration department. 

Julie Galino was in LVN Pictures for 20 years before joining ABS-CBN where she recently assumed the post of managing the film archives.

JR is seen here using a particle transfer roller which cleans a film roll before it is put to storage. 

A couple of work areas in the archives department. 

Magnets from the staff just before the inspection room. Right: old editing machines. 

The fantaserye character Kokey. Right: various solutions kept in the inspection rooms.  

A film can and (right) one of ABS-CBN's fantasy characters.   

Reels of Himala, the first movie the company restored. 

The Sharon Cuneta-Richard Gomez starrer, Minsan Minahal Kita, in tape format. 

A well-preserved prop from the Manuel Conde classic Ang Prinsipeng Hindi Tumatawa (1946). 

“Films do reflect the culture, architecture, fashion, social norm of a particular era,” says Katigbak. “It becomes a cultural snapshot." 

According to records, there have been around 8,000 Filipino movies produced on film—from 1919 to 2012—and not even half of that number has been saved and stored properly. Of the 8,000 films, only a quarter can be restored.

In short, there’s still a lot of work to be done.

“Films do reflect the culture, architecture, fashion, social norm of a particular era,” Katigbak explains. “It becomes a cultural snapshot. Nakakalungkot that you have the likes of Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal, Mike de Leon, Eddie Romero—who have already been known in Europe since the ‘70s and ‘80s—na limot na ng tao ngayon. Part of our advocacy is making sure that people will remember these greats.”

You may also like:

• The ABS-CBN Film Restoration office is closing—here are 10 of its priceless gifts to the culture
• ‘Pare Ko is 25?!’ Joey Reyes reflects on the film that captured youth & friendship in the '90s
• The drama behind Aguila: Walkouts, diva turns and confrontation on the set of FPJ’s best film
• These photos from the restored ‘Tisoy’ will make you nostalgic for 70s Manila

The pursuit of that advocacy has been sadly put on hold, however, following Congress denying ABS-CBN its franchise. The archives department is closing and, after its last two completed restoration projects Markova and Minsan Lang Kita Iibigin, so will the restoration efforts. The effort to save our movies has truly been one of the most unexpected casualties of the ABS-CBN franchise denial. 

Meanwhile, as the countdown to the August 31 closing of offices begin, Katigbak is scrambling to find a solution on how to keep the treasures of the archive vaults safe for the future. “At the very least man lang maalagaan itong ating archives,” he told TV Patrol recently, “kasi hindi biro na ito’y naitago. Ayaw namin mangyari katulad nung sinakop ang ABS-CBN nung martial law, na na-destroy lahat ng kopya ng lahat ng ginawa ng ABS-CBN kasi nirecycle ang tapes at ibinasura.” 

Photographs by Geric Cruz

Earlier this week, photos of a frail-looking, facemask-wearing John Regala sitting by a street side food stall circulated online. Clutching a small bag, the actor looked fragile and weak, wearing a shirt, jeans, and slip-ons. He was apparently sitting down due to dizziness. Carlo Marti Clariza, the Grab rider who shared the photos and who the actor bumped into and asked for help from at that random corner in Pasay said Regala was stuttering and looking for a nurse.

“He went to Pasay because he had this friend that would hydrate him because he could not move,” explains Regala’s friend and showbiz contemporary Nadia Montenegro to ANCX, adding the character actor had not had a meal in 13 days at the time of the incident. “Medyo may problema na yung arms niya medyo hindi na napapasukan ng karayom… so nagpa-suwero siya kasi nag-worry siya na hindi na siya nakakakain.” 

Whenever Regala would attempt to eat anything solid, the actress explains, he would vomit. 

Clariza sought the help of Barangay Tanod, and they made sure that Regala made it back home. The actor, it turns out, was being housed by the Iglesia ni Kristo, the church he has been a member of for years. “Kaya medyo hirap na hirap kami kasi medyo strict eh. Naka lockdown yung building niya, hindi nila alam kung paano siya nakaalis,” Montenegro says.

While it’s been a rocky 2020 for everyone, Regala’s year has been particularly challenging. His mother, the actress Ruby Regala, passed away earlier this year from a brain tumor while she was in the US. In an interview with Aster Amoyo, Regala shared that it was through Iglesia Ni Cristo’s influence and sources that her body was brought back home to the Philippines. 

Born John Paul Guido Boucher Scherrer, the veteran screen villain is the son of the actor Mel Francisco with Ruby Regala. John is of Spanish, German, Italian, and French descent. According to a segment in the news magazine show Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho, Regala grew up away from his parents and was maltreated by the relatives who took him in in Quezon. When his mother came back for him, she brought him to Marikina where the young man started taking on odd jobs to help out with expenses. John initially thought of becoming a soldier, and trained to become a jungle fighter in Mindanao. Before his deployment, however, he went AWOL.

After seeing he could hold his own against the celebrities of the time, Regala thought of entering showbiz. He hung out in Escolta, where producers and other production people were habitues, and pleaded with directors to cast him as an extra. While his start in showbiz could be tied with his stint in the popular variety show That’s Entertainment, Regala’s career was built around his many turns as a kontrabida in 90s action movies. 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Julius Babao (@juliusbabao) on Jul 30, 2020 at 5:59am PDT

Julius Babao expresses thanks to those who extended help to the actor.

But beset with personal problems and a long battle with drug addiction, projects were harder to come by in the 2000s. COVID-19, of course, also exacerbated the plight of many actors like Regala as halted or cancelled productions or projects eliminated sources of income. The last show the actor was on was ABS-CBN’s Ang Probinsyano, where he played Cong. Randolf Subito opposite Coco Martin.

Montenegro and Amoyo communicate with Regala everyday and learned about the incident in Pasay that night. The two went to the INC shelter the next day, bringing along a friend of Montenegro’s, Dr. Melissa Sinchongco, so that he could be looked over. “We made an initial check up on him, he was kind of bloated,” the actress shares of her friend’s condition upon seeing him, explaining that his liver was not doing well due to cirrhosis. “But his kidneys and everything are okay. So malakas pa rin siya nakakapaglakad pero hingal na hingal, pero putok-putok na rin yung fingers niya eh dahil sa diabetes and sa gout.”

Montenegro says her friend is less mobile—an unfortunate development since he has to go down from the 14th floor of the building every time he gets a visit. “Today, at 9 am, we already got all his blood chem, and we were able to take water retention kasi puro nana yung loob ng paa niya hindi na siya makalakad,” she describes. “So nabawasan na ng konti as per report ni doktora kanina sa amin. They were taking videos of everything being done to him while we were watching.” Only Dr. Sinchongco is allowed to go, Montenegro, Amoyo, and Regala’s other celebrity friends are updated via video.

Regala was also supposed to start hydration treatment today but he was bloated. He still can’t take in solids, and has only been drinking Yakult as nourishment for three days. He will be getting a doctor’s visit three times a week so that he will be administered liquid medicine as well as other supplementals like potassium through IV.

“At least now he has the care that he needs, and the only thing that we need now is to sustain it to get him back to health ng mga two to three months, and then maybe by then he can start taking solids again,” Montenegro says. “That’s when siguro we can do something on his liver kung kakayanin pa if he gets healthy.”

While incidents like these have happened with Regala before—three years ago the actor fainted in front a Savemore in Cavite—Montenegro says this recent example is painful to witness. “This is the first time I thought to myself na siguro naman people will help him and all. But unfortunately to find him in that situation again the other day talagang broke my heart,” she says, feeling for the misfortunes that have befallen her friend and many like him. “It’s not even double trouble, it’s triple trouble na. The pandemic, nawalan ng trabaho. It’s a dark world, you know, but there are people who try to make it brighter if we can all do our part.”

Not only is Regala in dire financial straits, he is also going through his health ordeal alone. “In his personal life, medyo sad, sad story. We’re trying to look for his children. Yung panganay niya kasi inaanak ko yun eh, and I also want to find him. Si Gilbert yun,” she shares. “Saka yung isang anak niya sa America yung iniiyak niya sa amin nung isang araw. Na kaya hindi pa siya kinukuha ni Lord kasi gusto niya makita yung anak niya sa America.

 

 

 

 

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UPDATE #2 ON JOHN REGALA'S CURRENT CONDITION (as of July 31, 2020) This morning at 9AM, Dra. Melissa Sinchongco went to see John and to perform the following procedures... Blood Chem: Creatinine, Uric, CBC, HCC, Liver Enzymes, Potassium, Sodium We need these results in order to determine the kinds of additional IV fluids he needs. Apart from that, Dra. Sinchongco also drained fluid (abscess and water retention) from John's foot to lessen the swelling, and cleaned his wounds to avoid infection. We expect the results of John's blood chem to be out in 1-2 days, after which we can begin administering IV for his hydration and boosters to regain his strength. Dra. Sinchongco is also working on helping John with his gout in order to lessen his pain. Blood chem will be done every 2 weeks in order to monitor his progress and hopeful improvement. We continue to ask for everyone's prayers and much needed help. ————— We have opened up a crowdfunding page to cover John's badly needed medical support and proper healthcare. If you would like to donate and assist in his financial burden, any donation through this crowdfunding campaign would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much. You may donate here: https://bit.ly/helpjohnregala You may also donate through the following bank account which we opened just now for John's expenses: BDO (Joint Account) Account name: NADINE MARIE INEZ M. PLA / ASTERIA A. AMOYO Account No: 002030228830 or GCash 09157987428 (If you donate through BDO, please send a copy of your deposit slip to me or Nadia Montenegro Pla via PM so that we can do a proper accounting of ur donation. Salamat po.)

A post shared by Nadia montenegro (@officialnadiam) on Jul 31, 2020 at 2:52am PDT

Friend Nadia Montenegro gave an update on Regala's health condition on her Instagram account

Montenegro says it would take more checkups for the doctor to know the main medicines that Regala would need moving forward. As going to the hospital is still currently out of the question, these regular visits will have to do for now. “Right now, what we will be expecting to spend every two weeks will be around nasa PHP 30,000 to 40,000 pati yung care for him. Kukuha kami ng caregiver,” she says. “Kahit volunteer sina doktora may mga major expenses sa mga gamit.”

While the actress knows there are those who say Regala is reaping the consequences of his checkered past, she pleads for their compassion. “What John needs right now is love and prayers,” she says. “Regardless of the past. Everyone has a past. God doesn’t look naman at the scars or anything.“

Donations to fund John Regala’s treatments may be sent to Montenegro and Amoyo’s shared BDO account (002030228830; Nadine Marie Inex M. Pla/Astoria A Amoyo), or through GCash (09157987428).